Sale's new signing Danny Cipriani will have to wait for his first start after being named among their replacements for their trip to the Exeter Chiefs on Saturday.

Bryan Redpath has opted to give Nick Macleod the nod at fly-half and has named Richie Gray among his starting XV. Redpath has also blooded Corne Uys and Eifion Lewis-Roberts but one of the star signings of the summer Cipriani will look to make his impact from the bench. Redpath is fully aware of the threats that the Chiefs pose and he is looking for his team to front up.

"Nobody's hiding from the fact how tough the Chiefs are down there," Redpath said. "Last year's performance at Sandy Park wasn't good enough and Sale Sharks suffered. The key thing is that we travel South West with a clear mindset of what we need to do. We have to turn up with our A1 game to compete down there.

"Exeter will be red hot favourites to win because they don't often lose at home, so we've nothing to lose and will give it our best shot. There were differences between our pre-season games against Glasgow and Leinster in terms of intensity and the playing conditions. The squad we've selected get the first crack at it and we'll see where we are after this game."

Elsewhere, Chris Ashton will make his debut for Saracens in their match at Twickenham after being named in their starting XV. They play London Irish who have opted to hand, among others, Tomas O'Leary a debut but have named Shane Geraghty among their replacements.

And Ashton's England team-mate James Haskell starts for Wasps against Harlequins with fellow new recruit Andrea Masi also getting the nod. Tom Palmer and Ashley Johnson are named among the replacements. Their coach, Dai Young, believes that their opponents are the side to emulate this term.

"I'm a big fan of the way Quins play the game. Pretty much everything about their game over the past couple of seasons has been of real quality," Young said. "The players coming through the academy, the way they play the game, the matchday experience - it seems that Harlequins have got it right. It's something for us all to look at and try to emulate."